


Valentine's Day Massacre

by NotaDroid (mjonhunt)



Series: 200 [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Long-Distance Relationship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mjonhunt/pseuds/NotaDroid
Summary: Spencer and Emily have a phone call on Valentine's Day that doesn't go well.  What do they do next?
Relationships: Emily Prentiss/Spencer Reid
Series: 200 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842463
Kudos: 11





	Valentine's Day Massacre

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place shortly after the episode "Mr. & Mrs. Anderson". It also references the episodes "Zugzwang" and "#6".

On Saturday February 15, 2014, the day after Valentines Day, Dietrich Peterson had a conversation with Emily in his favorite pub. He was enjoying a drink, when Emily came in.

"This is all your fault," Emily said as she sat down.

"What's all my fault,"Dietrich asked.

"Everything."

"Everything covers a lot of ground, and makes me sound a lot more industrious than I actually am. What happened."

"It was a disaster."

"It?"

"My call. My Valentine's Day call with Spencer."

"Spencer. Who's Spencer? Oh wait…FBI guy from the States? You screwed it up already?"

"What do you mean I screwed it up?"

"I know you Emily. I knew you were going to mess it up. I thought it would last a month at least, but you screwed it up just a few weeks. That's a record even for you."

"What do you mean, even for me?"

"Well, let's break this down. You've been living in London for how long? A year?"

"Yeah, so?"

"In that time how many guys have you dated? You know, gone on three to five dates with?"

"Five."

"How many became serious?"

She sighed. "One."

"And how long did that last?"

"Two months."

And what would you say is your longest relationship with a guy?"

"Sergio."

"Your cat?"

"Yes." She held her face in her hands.

"So, what happened with Spencer?"

"We had a fight."

"About what?"

"He was late calling me. I got a little snarky and then…"

"Yeah?"

"He brought up Maeve."

"Who's Maeve?"

"He is last girlfriend. They sort of had a long-distance relationship."

"Really? So, he brought up his ex?"

"You can't really call her an ex. The only reason they're not together is she's dead."

"I'm sorry?"

"They didn't meet in person. She was being stalked, so all of their conversations were Spencer calling from payphones, and by mail. The only time he met her in person was when the stalker abducted her. She killed her right in front of him."

"She? The stalker was a chick?"

"This wasn't a boyfriend or some who had a romantic obsession. She just hated Maeve because Maeve caused a professional setback for her."

"And she went crazy stalker over that?"

"Stalkers as a general rule overreact to everything."

"I see. So what happened with Spencer?"

"We ended up yelling at each other and hanging up the phone on each other."

"At the same time, or did you hang up first?"

"Why would you assume I hung up first?"

"You did, didn't you?"

"How ... never mind. What was I even thinking?"

"Hard to say."

"I screwed it up, didn't I."

"You mean it's not all my fault anymore?"

"You encouraged me."

"I did not. I said if you like the guy you should try to make it work."

"Yeah."

"So, do you still like him?"

"Of course, I do."

"Then go fix it."

"I can't."

"Sure you can. Tell him you were wrong."

"I wasn't."

"Then tell him he was wrong, and you want an apology."

"How is that supposed to fix it?"

"At least you will be talking to him."

"There's just one problem."

"What?"

"He wasn't entirely wrong."

"Oh?"

"Okay, I started the fight."

"Uh-huh."

"Fine. It is all my fault. I screwed it all up."

"No kidding. Do you know why?"

"No."

"Do you want to know?"

She sighed. "Just tell me."

"Because you are a hot mess."

"Thanks, that is very helpful."

"Knowing there is a problem is the first step in solving it. If this guy has any brains, he already knows you're a hot mess."

"He doesn't deserve a hot mess."

"Just call him and fix it."

"Oh yeah, because we did just a great job talking on the phone last time."

"Then just text him."

"The problem is I don't think I can deal with this long distance. Maybe it's just better to give up before things get worse."

"This is why your longest relationship is with you cat."

* * *

The following Tuesday, Spencer Reid had also a discussion about the phone call.

Reid was sitting at his desk, trying to work. He had a hard time concentrating on the cases in front of him. He just kept thinking of the disastrous phone call the previous Friday. He messed up. He new he messed up. But, he didn't know how to fix it.

"How was your weekend, Spencer," Alex Blake asked him.

"It was fine."

"Fine?"

"Yes, fine."

"The tone in your voice, your use of the word fine, and the fact you won't look me in the eye suggest something is wrong. What went wrong this weekend?"

Reid looked up at Blake. The look in here eye indicated she was not going to let this go. He sighed.

"I …I screwed things up with Emily."

"Emily ...Prentiss?"

"We had scheduled a phone call. We had recently …We were going to be more than just friends and…"

"It didn't go well."

"No. I was late calling her, she got annoyed and…she brought up Maeve and then…"

"You got in a fight."

"Yes. I want to fix it, but I don't know how. I just…Maybe it was a mistake. I just thought…it wasn't this hard with Maeve."

"Outside of not being able to see her in person, and only communicating through secret correspondence and pay phones?"

"Alex…"

"Spencer, dating someone you know is always a little tricky. Especially if you are doing so over a long distance."

"I just don't know what to do."

"Well, let me give you some advice a friend I respect deeply once gave me."

"Yes?"

"There is work and there will always be work. What's rare is finding someone who makes us happy."

"I told you that, last year."

"I know. It's good advice. If Emily makes you happy, or has the potential to make you happy, you should do what you can to make it work."

"But what if we can't make it work?"

"I think the better question is what if you can make it work. Start there."

Reid thought about what Alex said later that day when he had a text from Emily on his phone. It simply said: _I'm sorry. I was unfair to you._


End file.
